Gênesis 37
Ambrose of Milan · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Gênesis 37:3
And so we are taught the proper nature of parental love and filial gratitude. It is pleasant to love one's children and very pleasant to love them exceedingly, but often even parental love does harm to the children unless it is practiced with restraint; for it may give the beloved child free rein out of excessive indulgence or, by preference shown to one child, may alienate the others from the spirit of brotherly love. That son gains more who gains the love of his brothers. This is a more splendid manifestation of generosity on the part of the parents and a richer inheritance for the sons. Let the children be joined in a like favor, who have been joined in a like nature.…What wonder if quarrels arise among brothers over an estate or a house, when enmity blazed up among the sons of holy Jacob over a tunic? What then? Should we find fault with Jacob because he preferred the one son to the others? But we cannot take from parents their freedom to love the more those children whom they believe to be the more deserving, nor ought we to cut off the sons from their eager desire to be the more pleasing. To be sure, Jacob loved the more that son in whom he foresaw the greater marks of virtue; thus he would not appear to have shown preference so much as father to son but rather as prophet to a sacred sign. And Jacob was right to make for his son a tunic of many colors, to indicate by it that Joseph was to be preferred to his brothers with his clothing of manifold virtues. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:8
Indeed, God's grace shone on Joseph even in his boyhood. For he had a dream that when he was binding sheaves with his brothers—so it appeared to him in the vision—this sheaf rose up and stood straight, while the sheaves of his brothers turned and bowed down to his sheaf. Now in this the resurrection of the Lord Jesus that was to come was revealed. When they saw him at Jerusalem, the eleven disciples and all the saints bowed down; when they rise, they will bow down bearing the fruits of their good works, just as it is written, "Coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves." Although his brothers disparaged the reliability of the dream out of their envy, still they expressed his interpretation of it in their own words when they replied, "Are you to be our king? Are you to rule over us?" For that vision indicated the King who was to come, and before him all human flesh would bow down with bended knee. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:10
Moreover, Joseph saw another dream and told it to his father and brothers, that the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him. On this account his father reproved him and said, "What will be the meaning of this vision that you have dreamed? Can it be that I and your mother and your brothers will come and bow to the ground before you?" Who is he before whom parents and brothers bowed down to the ground but Jesus Christ? Joseph and his mother with the disciples bowed down before him and confessed the true God in that body, of whom alone it was said, "Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you stars and light." Further, what is the meaning of the father's reproach but the hardness of the people of Israel? Christ comes from them according to the flesh, but today they do not believe that he is God and are not willing to bow down to him as their Lord, because they know that he was born from among themselves. Accordingly they hear his replies, but they do not understand them. They themselves read that the sun and moon praise Christ, but they are unwilling to believe this was said with reference to Christ. Therefore Jacob is mistaken in regard to the symbol, which refers to another, but is not mistaken in the love, which is his own. In him paternal love did not go astray, but rather there is depicted an affection for a people that was going to go astray. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:14
Therefore the patriarch did not refuse to believe in a dream so mighty, for in a twofold prophecy he prophesied both together; that is, he represented and personified the just man and the people, because the Son of God was going to come to earth to be loved by just men and denied by unbelievers. And so Jacob, in sending his son to his brothers to see if it was well with the sheep, foresaw the mysteries of the incarnation that was to come. What sheep was God searching for in the concern manifested even at that time by the patriarch? The very ones of whom the Lord Jesus himself said in the Gospel, "I did not come except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." "And he sent him to Shechem," which name is interpreted as "shoulder" or "back." That is, to those who did not turn to the Lord but fled from his face and turned away, an expression properly applied to the sinner, for "Cain went out from the face of the Lord," and the psalmist says, "You will make them turn their back." Now the just person does not turn away from the Lord but runs to meet him and says, "My eyes are ever toward the Lord." And when the Lord said, "Whom shall I send?" Isaiah offered himself of his own accord and said, "Behold, here I am." Simeon also waited to see Christ the Lord; after he saw him, because he had seen the Pardoner of sins and Redeemer of the whole world, he asked to be freed from the use of this flesh, just as he had been relieved of his sin, and said, "Now dismiss your servant, Lord, because my eyes have seen your salvation." Zacchaeus too first gained the special privilege of having the Lord's commendation bestowed on him for this, that he climbed a tree to see Christ. Therefore Joseph was sent by his father to his brothers, or rather by that Father "who has not spared his own Son but has delivered him for us all," by that Father of whom it is written, "God, sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh." — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:15
"And Joseph was wandering about," because he could not find his brothers. And it was right that he wandered about, for he was seeking those that were going astray. Yes, "the Lord knows who are his." Indeed, Jesus also, when he was wearied from his journey, sat at the well. He was wearied, for he was not finding the people of God whom he was seeking; they had gone out from the face of the Lord. The person who follows sin goes out from Christ. The sinner goes out; the just person enters in. Indeed, Adam hid himself as a sinner, but the just person says, "Let my prayer enter in before you." — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:17
Now Joseph found his brothers in Dothan, which means "desertion." And where is the person who deserts God but in desertion? No wonder if they deserted who did not hear him saying, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." Therefore Joseph came to Dothan, "and they saw him coming from afar, before he drew near to them, and they raged that they might kill him." It is right that they were far off who were in desertion, and so they were raging, because Christ had not drawn near to them. For if the model of Christ had drawn near to them, they would surely have loved their brother. But they could not be near, for they were plotting fratricide. "Behold, that dreamer is coming. Now therefore come, let us kill him." Were not the men who were saying such words plotting a sacrilegious fratricide, as Solomon says of them, "Let us remove the just one, because he is profitless to us"? — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:20
And in Genesis they also said, "And we shall see what will become of his dreams." This is written in regard to Joseph, but it is fulfilled in regard to Christ, when the Jews said in the course of his passion, "If he is the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusts in God; let him deliver him now, if he wants him." But were those brothers so unholy as to kill their brother? And from what source do the merits of the mighty patriarchs derive, so that the law designates the tribes of the entire people by their names? How are names of holiness in accord with marks of crime? In this also they served as a model of the people; their own souls were not toiling under a burden of crime. This gave rise to all the enmity and the plotting of fratricide; the enmity is by way of figure, the holiness by way of love. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:21
Indeed, Reuben and Judah observed the holy bonds of brotherhood and desired to free Joseph from their hands. Judah receives the preference by his father's blessing, and rightly so, when it is said to him, "The sons of your father shall bow down to you. A lion's whelp is Judah, and he is the expectation of nations." Surely this is appropriate to Christ alone, for whom it was in store that he should be worshiped by his brothers and awaited by the nations and that he should wash his tunic in wine by the passion of his own body, because he did not stain his flesh with any spot of sin.…Conferring together against that counsel, the brothers abused him in whom "the blessing prevailed over the blessings of the enduring mountains and was stronger than the desires of the everlasting hills." Who did Joseph understand was being prefigured in himself? Only he who surpasses the merits of all people and possesses the summit of limitless power beyond the desires of all the saints, he whom no one matches in prayer. And so, in the case of the patriarchs, enmity is repaid through grace, for they are excused from their guilt and made holy by the gift of revelation. For it is not so much a matter of blame in having said what refers to the people as it is a matter of happiness in having seen what refers to Christ. The people assumed the character of a sinner to receive the grace of their Lord and Redeemer. Assuredly grace destroyed guilt; guilt did not diminish grace. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:23
Accordingly, even at that time, the cross that was to come was prefigured in sign; and at the same time that he was stripped of his tunic, that is, of the flesh he took on, he was stripped of the handsome diversity of colors that represented the virtues. Therefore his tunic, that is, his flesh, was stained with blood, but not his divinity; and his enemies were able to take from him his covering of flesh but not his immortal life. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:27
Also, to signify the figure of the Lord's Passion, Judah the patriarch says: Let us sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites: but let not our hands be upon him. And earlier he had said well: But let not our hands be upon him. What the Jews said in the Lord's Passion: It is not lawful for us to put any man to death. This is to fulfill Jesus' words, signifying by what death He would die. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:27
And so that we may understand that all this concerning the people and the mystery of the Lord Jesus: Come, he says, let us sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites. What is the interpretation of the name Joseph, except that it signifies divine grace and the expression of the highest God? Who, therefore, is sold, except he who, while being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal to God: but he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant? For we would not have sent him, if they had not sold him. Those who sold him did a bad job, those who bought him did even worse. They sold a good odor to merchants, they bought a traitor. Judas sold him, the Ishmaelites bought him, who are called in Latin interpretation, hating their God. Therefore, in one place we find him bought for twenty, in another place for twenty-five gold coins, in another place for thirty; because Christ is not valued by everyone at the same price. To some less, to others more. Faith is the increase of goods: to the religious, God is more precious, to the sinner, the redeemer is more precious. He is also more worth to whom more grace has been given; but even to whom many things have been given, he is more worth; because to whom more has been forgiven, he loves more, as the Lord himself pronounced in the Gospel concerning that woman who poured ointment on his feet, and washed them with her tears, and wiped them with her hair, and dried them with kisses, of whom he said to Simon: For which reason I say to you: Her many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, less He loves. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:31
Now the fact that they sprinkled his tunic with the blood of a goat seems to have this meaning, that they attacked with false testimony and brought into enmity for sin him who forgives the sins of all people. For us there is a lamb, for them a goat. For us the Lamb of God has been killed, who took from us the sins of the world, whereas for them a goat piled up sins and amassed offenses. Therefore "fill up the measure of your fathers." And Jacob rightly lamented the losses to his posterity; as a father he wept for his lost son, and as a prophet he mourned the destruction of the Jews. Indeed, Jacob also tore his clothing; similarly, at the time of the Lord Jesus' passion, the chief priest tore his robe. He exercised not a private role but an office with a public function. The curtain of the temple was also torn, so that it might be made clear by such signs that the mysteries had been profaned, the people stripped of the garments of salvation, and that the kingdom had been divided and was to be destroyed, because every divided kingdom will easily be destroyed. — On Joseph the Patriarch
Gênesis 37:36
But as for what pertains to the moral interpretation, because our God wishes all people to be saved, through Joseph he also gave consolation to those who are in slavery, and he gave them instruction. Even in the lowliest status, people should learn that their character can be superior and that no state of life is devoid of virtue if the soul of the individual knows itself. The flesh is subject to slavery, not the spirit, and many humble servants are more free than their masters, if in their condition of slavery they consider that they should abstain from the works of a slave. Every sin is slavish, while blamelessness is free. On this account the Lord also says, "Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin." Indeed, how is each greedy person not a slave, seeing that he auctions himself off for a very tiny sum of money? The person who has piled up what he is not going to use is afraid that he may lose all that he has piled up; the more numerous his acquisitions, the greater the risk he will run in keeping them.…Moreover, how is that person who is subject to lust not also a slave? First, he blazes with his own fires, and he is burned up by the torches within his own breast. To such people the prophet rightly says, "Walk in the light of your own fire and in the flame that you have kindled." Fear takes hold of them all and lies in wait for each one when he is asleep; so that he may gain control over one object of desire, a person becomes the slave of them all. The one who makes his own masters is the slave to a wretched slavery indeed, for he wishes to have masters that he may fear; indeed, nothing is so characteristic of slavery as the constant fear. But that one, whatever his servile status, will always be free who is not seduced by love or held by the chains of greed or bound by fear of reproach, who looks to the present with tranquility and is not afraid of the future. Doesn't it seem to you that a person of the latter kind is the master even in slavery, while one of the former kind is a slave even in liberty? Joseph was a slave, Pharaoh a ruler; the slavery of the one was happier than the sovereignty of the other. Indeed, all Egypt would have collapsed from famine unless Pharaoh had made his sovereignty subject to the counsel of a mere servant. — On Joseph the Patriarch